RYAN’S FORECAST

Forget about the swine flu for just a moment. There’s another kind of pandemic that should grab your attention and this one will leave you just as sweaty and feverish. The DJ Logic bill on the Blind Tiger’s website is not and never was happening, so here’s an alternative for the jam-minded. The Electric Soul Pandemic (www.myspace.com/electricsoulpandemic) is a five-piece jazz-funk outfit that some might even use the exhausted umbrella term “jam band” to explain. They certainly do jam and with influences like the Allman Brothers Band, Medeski Martin & Wood, Frank Zappa and John Scofield, using that descriptor might just be the easy way out. They’re still fairly new to the local music scene, though obviously someone has heard of them as I got a call from a private investigator in Tennessee just last week who was trying to come up with the band’s name. Whether they were wanted for questioning about some illicit criminal activity or merely for dealing in too much funk for their own good is anyone’s guess, but the smart money is on the latter. The band will be playing at the Blind Tiger on Thursday night. The show starts at around 10 p.m., though no ticket prices were available at press time.

The last big WUAG show of the semester

WUAG will be presenting their biggest show of the year this Saturday with a special outdoor concert featuring an incredibly diverse lineup of bands. The bill is led by Calvin Johnson (www.myspace.com/kfamily), who will be appearing with his new dance-rock band the Hive Dwellers. Johnson, the founder of K Records, has performed in a variety of bands including the Beat Happening, Halo Benders (with Doug Martsch of Built to Spill) and Dub Narcotic Sound System. He’s also appeared on Beck’s album One Foot in the Grave. Chain & the Gang (www.myspace.com/chainandthegang), Ian Svenonius’ new band, is also on the bill and plays lo-fi garage rock in a similar vein of King Khan & the Shrines. Rounding out the day festival are Tartufi (www.myspace.com/tartufi), a duo from San Francisco known for their epic math-rock jams, and Greensboro’s own art-punks Invisible (www.myspace.com/ invisiblesounds). The show will take place at the parking lot across from Square One at the 1400 block of Glenwood Avenue and begins at 4 p.m. There’s no cost for the event and everyone is invited to attend. In addition to the plethora of live music, there will be four square, foosball and records for sale courtesy of a Few of My Favorite Things. In case of rain, the show will be moved to Square One.

You know you love the Doggystyle

Whenever the Doggfather (www.snoopdogg.com) is in the vicinity for a show, it deserves a little more than a sniff. When he’s bringing his full band the Snoopadelics in tow, however, you had better track him down with a pack of bloodhounds. He’s doing just that on May 13 at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh and while the tickets are a little bit pricey at $40 in advance, being able to reach out and give dap to the man who basically wrote the soundtrack to every party in the ’90s is well worth it. If you’ve ever seen his late-night talk show (one of the few reasons to turn on MTV nowadays) “Dogg After Dark” or the fleeting sketch comedy show “Doggy Fizzle Televizzle,” you no doubt caught a glimpse of the Parliament Funkadelic-esque arrangement of horns, guitars, bass and drums that Snoop Dogg has backing him these days. South Central rapper the Hustle Boyz (www.myspace.com/hustleboyzmusik) will be opening the show, though Snoop is notorious for bringing an entourage of other artists with him wherever he goes. Doors for the show open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m., so be there for the love of Dogg.